Friday Thoughts On Racism — Racist Microaggressions Bingo Card
I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Did they really understand and believe what they were saying? Clearly not.
A white female friend and ally of mine recently reposted the following quote from a Black male friend:
Every attempt to ignore racism & oppose black lives matter, just makes us even more determined to stand for racial justice. Stronger than ever!
The result was a discourse on her post, back and forth, between four white men. One who was obviously “woke”, in the original true sense of the term; the others, who obviously were not.
I would not say the other three white men are racists but their responses definitely were. You can judge for yourself. The following is a list of statements that could be used in a racist microaggressions bingo card. I’m sure there are many others that can be added.
Here are the reasons why I consider these statements racist:
I’ve got Black friends/family members
Because you have Black friends or family members does not automatically make you “not racist”. It is possible to be racist and have Black friends or family members. When facing a situation of racism against your Black friends or family and you do nothing about it; or if you yourself brush off or gaslight their experiences as not racist, I’m afraid that you are racist.
I have a problem with BLM the organisation but not with ‘black lives matter’ the idea.
This is like “throwing the baby out with the bath water”. While I also don’t align myself with Black Lives Matter the organisation, they do stand for the eradication of racism. So as Jesus of Nazareth says in Mark 9:40, “Whoever is not against us is for us.”
When stating that black lives matter is an idea, this in itself denies that black lives actually do matter.
I have lived in (enter any non-majority white nation) and have experienced my fair share of racism.
This is a popular assumption that being white in a non-white majority nation means that you have experienced racism, you have not. You have experienced prejudice or discrimination, not racism.
Racism isn’t only committed by white people. Racism exists in every culture and country. It is committed by people of every colour.
Merriam-Webster defines racism as,
“a belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.“
The superiority of races was historically determined by skin colour that comes with presumed inherent traits, which determines that white skin has superiority over all other racial skin types. This is the basic premise for white supremacy, which has been proven to have no basis in science, especially genetic science.
The co-founder of BLM has 4 homes, with one being 1.4 million dollars in an exclusive gated community. Hypocrisy.
This statement is made on the premise that it is not possible for Black people to have money or privilege, therefore how is this possible to have 4 expensive homes. For a Black person to run an organisation like BLM, it is not a mandatory requirement to have less money and privilege than the white person making the judgement.
How did she get the money?
This is a common stereotypical assumption about Black people, that there was illegal activity either by her or by the BLM organisation. This is a typical racist trope that a Black person with money must have acquired it through “ill gotten gains”.
Woke Man “Maybe you could spend as much energy and words supporting the fight against racism as you do critiquing the BLM organisation.”
Dozed Man “I could but that would just be virtue signalling.”
Clearly the “Dozed” (the opposite of woke) man is so racist that he has lost perspective on the plight of the Black people, that he says BLM has not served. His view that standing up for ending racial discrimination and injustice could be seen a virtue signalling, is abhorrent.
I have got everything in my life through hard work as did my family.
This assumes that “white privilege” has something to do with hard work. White privilege is not earned, it is given only because the person has white skin. This also does not recognise the existence of generational wealth which acts as a multiplier for those that have it.
If you work hard in life you will generally be rewarded, no matter what colour your skin is. If you do nothing and play the victim you generally get nothing.
This is one of the most racist comments in the whole discourse, as it completely denies that racism exists at all. His statement promotes the perspective that Black people and people of colour are always looking for handouts, and that everything we have experienced in our lived experiences can be summarised as “playing the victim”.
Explain to me why white working class boys (in the UK) are the lowest achievers in the school system.
This assumes that ALL Black Afro-Caribbean boys, who are the nearest contenders for this unwanted title, should be categorised and compared the same as white working class boys. This means that ALL Black boys especially Black Afro-Caribbean boys should be considered in a social class lower than white working class boys.
There are Black people in all of society’s classes, but it should be recognised that through the lens of racism, Black people and people of colour will always be seen as less than white people in the same class.
I’m not a racist and never have been.
It is not possible to be not racist; either you are racist or you are anti-racist. Either you condone racist acts and statements made against Black people and people of colour or you actively stand against racist acts and statements made against Black people and people of colour.
Read Ibram X. Kendi’s book “How to be an AntiRacist” to gain a fuller understanding of these terms.
I have always stood up against racism when I have experienced it in my life.
I almost spat out my tea when I read this one.
“…when I have experienced it in my life…”, he is not racist yet he has only stood up against racism in his life, and not in the life of others that experience racism.
Most people I know are the same. They don’t care about the colour of people’s skin.
This is similar to the statement “I don’t see colour” or what many people have said to me “But Keith, I don’t see you as Black, I see you as Keith”.
I’m sorry, but if you saw me walking towards you and did not know me, the first thing you would notice about me is that I am Black, the second is that I am a man and the third that I am big i.e. tall and broad, thus quite imposing and to be feared.
We Black people and people of colour want you to see our colour, we want you to care. Because when you see us you will begin to see the discrimination and injustices we face. Only then can you decide to take action to establish an equitable existence for us all.
The media on the other hand try to make everything about race.
Actually this is an excellent example of deflecting; it’s not me it’s them. The media has always existed to serve their own agenda, to sell news. If they can encourage you to buy, by pandering to your conscious and unconscious racial biases, then they have met their goals.
The environment around us makes it easy for us to believe a lie is the truth, but it is up to us to choose to believe the lie. We have always had the choice; we just need to wake up “become woke” to the society’s indoctrination of the current world view on race.
The reason why 75% of black women are alone at home without the fathers of their children in the US, is because the government has incentivised it through welfare.
75% this means that 16.29 million black women in the US based on United States Census Bureau are single parents. That is not true.
In 2019, there were about 4.15 million Black families in the United States with a single mother Statista Research Department.
It is common for racists to misuse statistics to make their point relying on the principle that nobody checks statistics. By suggesting that Black women have babies so that they can claim welfare is contemptible. Again this is a very racist statement suggesting Black women “breed” for money.
Nothing I have said here has been remotely racist.
In reality everything these three white men said has been entirely racist.
Racist Bingo
If any of these statements resonate with you, because you have said them or because you believe them, please take a long hard look in the mirror at the person looking back at you and re-evaluate your “not racist” position. I urge you to take the position of becoming anti-racist and ally with your Black and person of colour neighbours.
At the start I said that you could probably add to this list of Racist Migroaggression Bingo Card statements. Please feel free to add to them as comments to this post.
